PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — "Playboy" Buddy Rose, a professional wrestler who gained national fame in the 1980s, died Tuesday at his home in Vancouver, Wash. He was 56.
The Clark County medical examiner's office said Rose died from natural causes, The Oregonian newspaper reported. Rose described himself during his career as "heavy in the seat, light on the feet," and his weight eventually swelled to well over 300 pounds.
Rose, whose given name was Paul Perschmann, started his career in Minneapolis before moving to the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1970s to perform with the Portland Wrestling company.
Rose reached the national stage in the early 1980s, when he joined the World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling Entertainment. According to the WWE website, Rose pushed then-champion Bob Backlund "to the limit" in a series of matches in 1982 and 1983.
"I think first of all the guy was a genius in the ring," Ed Wiskowski, a former tag-team partner, told Portland station KPTV. "Wrestling was his love, even though he did play hockey and baseball and was quite a good athlete."
On March 31, 1985, while appearing as a masked character called the "The Executioner," Rose battled Tito Santana in the first match of the first WrestleMania. Santana won.
Rose left the World Wrestling Federation in 1986, but returned four years later with a little more weight. Though listed at 317 pounds, he would quickly correct the ring announcement, contending he was a "slim, trim 217."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...t_N.htm?csp=34
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